Unofficial transcript 
Agenda item 37 “Question of Palestine”, November 29, 2012

CUBA:  Madam President, Cuba fully supports the statement made by Iran on behalf the Nonaligned Movement.  We congratulate the people of Palestine and the Palestinian authorities for the victory they achieved today in the General Assembly by obtaining the new status of observer state.  
Madam President, with the debate we are holding today on the question of Palestine, we extend the long list of discussions held in the United Nations without having been able to find an effective solution which puts an end to Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people.  Also it has not been possible to put an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem 44 years after that occupation began in 1967.  
Israel, the occupying power, continues to defy the international community with its constant violation of international standards and treaties, including a long list of resolutions of this assembly and of the Security Council.  Nor does Israel stop at the repeated calls of the Secretary General of the United Nations and other leaders of international organizations to put an end to their illegal actions and their crimes against the Palestinian people.  
Madam President, Israel continued and intensified its settlement activities in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, in violation of the resolutions of the Security Council, the Fourth Geneva Convention and the obligations it must meet under the roadmap.  The acts of violence and provocations against the Palestinian civilian population by settlers have increased without the occupying power putting any stop to them, nor taking relevant legal measures for the authors of these crimes to be held accountable.  
Israel continued the illegal building of the wall in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and its surroundings against the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.  The restrictions have led to the majority of the population of Palestine not having access to the medical, educational, social services, markets and sacred sites in East Jerusalem.  
The situation of women and children in the region is alarming.  Children face particularly severe difficulties, such as a high dropout rate, a low educational level because of the deficient school infrastructure, the lack of classrooms and the physical bureaucratic and other obstacles for access to educational institutions.  These are just some of the data that appear in the aforementioned reports and they support the gravity of the facts.  
There are reasons enough to adopt political measures of condemnation such as those which this assembly is about to approve once again.  But there should also be binding decisions of the Security Council to stop these crimes of Israel and punish the perpetrators.  
Why is the Security Council so passive and inactive faced with such overwhelming evidence?  Why is there no punishment for the crimes against the Palestinian people?  Why are those responsible not deprived of the financial resources which support their acts, and why is no limit put on their movements?  Why does NATO show no concern at the constant trampling on the human rights of the Palestinian people through Israel's aggression?  
This issue lays bare the hypocrisy and the double standard of some developed countries which are self-proclaimed models of the defense of human rights.  The United States of America prevent the Security Council from condemning Israel, very much unlike what happens with other countries who oppose and denounce the US's imperial policies.
Madam President, for eight days we were witnesses to a new escalation of violence and death which were caused by the actions of Israel's armed forces in the Gaza Strip.  Once again, Israel, using its military and technical superiority brutally repressed the Palestinian population and made innocent civilians victims and caused enormous material damage which aggravate the already precarious living conditions in this small, beleaguered territory.  
Cuba reiterated its strongest condemnation of this new aggression of the Palestinian people and it calls on the international community to urgently take all the necessary measures so that actions such as these do not -- are not repeated.  Cuba ratifies the firmest support to the just cause of the Palestinian people and its inalienable rights, including the creation of an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.  Cuba also supports the decision of Palestinian brothers and sisters to request their entry of the status as an observer member of the United Nations organization.  
This morning we celebrated the international - and this should be a step for the full entry of Palestine as a full member of the organization.  This morning we celebrated once again the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the tradition which brings us together every November 29 since the adoption by this Assembly of resolution 32/40B in 1977.
In his usual message on this occasion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba highlighted the clear proof of Palestine's commitment to the multilateral system, the progress of the authorities in strengthening state institutions and the robustness of these institutions, as well as the ability of Palestinians to exercise their sovereignty in an independent state.  
Likewise, he reiterated that aggressions against that fraternal people and the policy of illegal settlements make it impossible to seek a just solution to the conflict.  Madam President, Cuba reaffirms its determination to continue supporting the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for justice, dignity, peace and their right to self-determination in the independent state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.  Thank you